Formation controller Sample Clauses

Formation controller this block is in charge of generating commands for the AUV surge speed and yaw angle (tracked by the AUV inner loops) so as to make the AUV track the position of the ASV with a properly chosen, possibly time-varying offset, as per the requirements of the maneuver being performed. In fact, the formation controller can be viewed as the cascade composition of two operations: i) generating a virtual target (determined by the trajectory described by the leader and the requisites of the leader tracking maneuver) and ii) tracking the virtual target. The generation of the virtual target (its position and velocity) relies on the fact that the follower (AUV) has access not only to the relative position and velocity of the leader (ASV), but also to the curvature of its trajectory. In the tests illustrated in later sections, this block is configured so that the virtual target is positioned at a point defined by desired along- and across-path distances with respect to the path defined by the ASV (which, we assume, is either a straight line or a segment of a circumference, or a combination thereof). This allows for the characterization of the trajectory of the virtual target, both in terms of its position relative to the underwater vehicle (follower) and its inertial velocity. These parameters are then fed to a trajectory-tracking controller that forces the actual vehicle to track the virtual one.